What True Crime Gets Wrong About Crime
This article critiques the true-crime genre, specifically the Netflix documentary 'Maternal Instinct,' for oversimplifying complex criminal cases. It argues that such documentaries prioritize entertainment tropes over clinical or legal nuance, often omitting critical defense perspectives.
Why it matters
The popularity of true crime influences public perception of the justice system, making it important to distinguish between entertainment and factual reporting.
The hit Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct tidies a far more complicated story.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Netflix August 7, 2026, 7:30 AM ET Share Save On October 9, 2020, Taylor Parker, a 27-year-old mother of two, visited her friend Reagan Simmons-Hancock at her home in northeastern Texas. Simmons-Hancock, who was 35 weeks pregnant with her second child, had something Parker felt she desperately needed: a baby.
What transpired next is the subject of Maternal Instinct , a hit Netflix true-crime documentary directed by Jessica Dimmock and released in June. If you watched the film, you might conclude that you know everything you need to know about Parker and her crimes. But you would be mistaken. What is remarkable—albeit in line with the demands of the true-crime genre—is just how much Maternal Instinct leaves out.
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